What They Don't Know
by kimcooperx
Summary: The Black family is one of the most noble in all of the country but all three of Cygnus and Druella's daughters are doing their best to ruin the reputation that they uphold. Rudolphus/Bellatrix/Voldemort, Narcissa/Lucius, Andromeda/Ted.


This is a little something I started a few months back. I'm not entirely sure where it's going yet but I thought I'd give you a chance to have a read and give feedback and...yeah.

Thank you.

Kimberly xox.

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><p>To the Black family, appearance was everything. It was imperative that a true Black must give off the appearance befit to their status; respectable, noble and full of class. One's hair always had to be perfect, one's make-up carefully applied and one would only be dressed in the finest of robes. And so, it was no surprise that Andromeda and Narcissa Black were spending their Sunday evening pampering themselves.<p>

Andromeda stood behind her younger sister as she brushed her hair, pausing when the delicate looking blonde winced. "You're hurting me, Andie," Narcissa pouted into the mirror. "Mother's never this rough when she braids my hair..."

"I'm not Mother," Andromeda replied, though her strokes became much softer. Silence fell between the two as Andromeda began to weave her sister's thin hair into two plaits, one either side of her head. "Cissy?" she said, her voice near a whisper. She waited for the younger girl to look into their reflection in the mirror before continuing. "Do you want to know a secret?" The fifteen year old nodded enthusiastically, keen to be part of something. Her older sisters often had secrets from the family, hushed whispers which soon stopped when anyone entered the room. "You have to promise you won't tell anyone, though. Do you promise?" Again, Narcissa nodded. "I have a boyfriend."

Narcissa's eyes widened with a mixture of excitement and fear. "Who is it? Mother will go mad when she finds out," Narcissa breathed, her voice almost inaudible.

"She's not going to find out, is she Cissy?" retorted Andromeda, tugging on one of Narcissa's braids. A small cry of 'ow' was the only response. "It's Ted Tonks. He's a Hufflepuff and he says that he'll take me for a ride on his brother's motorcycle once he's passed his test. A motorcycle, Narcissa!"

Narcissa scrunched her nose at that comment. "Isn't that a Muggle thing?" Andromeda averted her gaze from the mirror as her sister gasped. "Oh, Andromeda, he's not Muggle-born is he? That's disgusting!"

"No, it is not you little brat," spat Andromeda and, for a second, the usually mellow witch looked scarily like her elder sister Bellatrix. "You don't know anything, Narcissa. He loves me."

Narcissa stared down at her fingers, tightly locked in her lap as Andromeda stalked across the room and sat on the end of her bed. "Does Bellatrix know?" the young blonde asked, softly.

"Are you stupid? Of course she doesn't know!"

"Who doesn't know what?" Bellatrix Black had entered the room, her black curls piled high on top of her head and dressed in a long house coat. She stepped into her sister's bedroom with poise and decorum, commanding her sisters' attention. "Well?"

"Mum," Andromeda started, not trusting Narcissa to lie well enough. "We were discussing your up-and-coming nuptials." Bella's lip curled in disgust but Andromeda took no notice. "And I was simply telling Narcissa here that I'm sure she would rethink a white wedding if she knew half the things you got up to." A sly smirk pulled at Andromeda's lips and the two sisters shared a knowing look before Bellatrix barked out a laugh.

"Perhaps it would be better if she did know," the darkest of the three sisters threw herself across the bed in the center of the room. "I don't know what she's thinking – Rudolphus Lestrange! Have you seen him? He's even dippier than his brother." Bellatrix shuddered at the thought of the older Lestrange brother.

"But it's all about good breeding and the Lestranges are perfect for it," Narcissa spoke for the first time since Bellatrix entered the room.

"What would you know about good breeding, Cissy?" asked Bellatrix, turning on her side to face her sister. "Hmm?"

"Mother said..."

"Mother doesn't know anything," Bellatrix said simply. "And besides – I don't intend on breeding with any one, never mind Rudolphus Bloody Lestrange."

"I think Rudolphus is lovely," Narcissa said, turning on her stool to face both her sisters who stared at her incredulously. "He brought you such lovely flowers when he visited and he was ever so complimentary towards you. You're not easy to compliment, Bellatrix." Andromeda snorted.

"Why don't you marry him, then?" Bellatrix grinned before dramatically throwing herself onto her back once more.

"Do you want to marry someone else?" Narcissa asked, looking at Andromeda who turned away, looking guilty.

"What? No, I do not. I don't ever want to get married. Who wants to become a simpering mess like Mother? To love and honour and obey," the eldest Black sister made a scathing noise. "Obey! I'd like to see Rudolphus try to make me obey." She sighed softly, signalling the end of her mini-rant, before pushing herself up into a seated position. "Anyway – I only came in to tell you two to get to bed. We have a long day ahead of us tomorrow and I want to get to the station early. Goodnight Narcissa, Andromeda." And, in one fluid movement, she was off the bed and out of the door.

"I hate when she does that," said Andromeda, getting to her feet.

"Does what?"

"Sneaks up on people. She just...appears," Andromeda shrugged her shoulders before turning towards the door. "Goodnight Narcissa," she called over her shoulder. "And don't forget – it's our little secret."

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><p>The next day, the three sisters found themselves amongst the hustle and bustle of witches, wizards and Muggles alike as they made their way to Platform Nine and Three Quarters. "Filthy things, Muggles," muttered Cygnus Black, ushering his daughters through the station as quickly as possible, his wife looking anxious at being surrounded by so many non-Magical people. Narcissa blanched, thinking back to Andromeda's confession the night before, though she said nothing, busying herself with the trunk in front of her.<p>

After breaking through the barrier between platforms nine and ten, the Black family stood congregated before the Hogwarts Express, Druella dabbing at her dry eyes with a white handkerchief, DB stitched in with expensive looking gold stitch. "Now Bellatrix do stay away from the pumpkin pasties this year," she said casting a disparaging look at her eldest daughter. "You don't want to be a fat bride, do you?" She dragged her eyes over Bellatrix who's pale cheeks flushed red as she clutched her robes tighter to her body. "You're already looking rather...portly. Pureblood men do not marry fat witches, Bellatrix." Bellatrix scowled at her mother but said nothing, the older witch turning her attention to her other daughters. "Now Narcissa, this year is very important – if you fail your O.W.L's you shan't be attending your sister's wedding and, Andromeda, do try to keep up appearances with Theodore Nott. It wouldn't hurt you to get a little more friendly with him – after all, you're sixteen years of age and, as of yet, you have no offers of marriage..."

"Druella, this is hardly the time," said Cygnus briskly. "The girls have to be going, don't you?" He leaned forward, kissing Andromeda on the forehead before turning to Narcissa, his pride and joy, and doing the same. Turning to Bellatrix, however, he paused as though it were the first time he had seen her. One hand on her hip, the dark haired witch scowled in the direction of her mother. "Please stay out of trouble, Bellatrix. I don't enjoy being on first name terms with your headmaster, you know? This is your seventh year. Your final year. Try to keep your head down, yes?" Bellatrix pursed her lips. "Yes?"

"Yes, Father," she muttered, rolling her eyes.

"Now, off you go," the greying wizard shooed off his daughters, his head tilted to one side. It was hard work bringing up three girls – especially when one of them was Bellatrix – but he was rather sure he and his wife had done a good job of it. They had brought their daughters up to be good, pureblood women with the correct values and ways of thinking. They knew who to associate with and how to behave, they were intelligent women with wonderful opportunities ahead of them. They truly had turned out to be remarkable young Blacks and it would be a shame that it would not be them to carry on the noble name but Walburga's sons Sirius and Regulus.

"Andromeda had better work on her posture before the wedding," said Druella, breaking him from his thoughts as she turned to walk away, not waiting to see their daughters on the train.

Once aboard the Hogwarts express, Bellatrix sped off to find her group of friends, not wanting to be seen with her younger sisters. "I think I'm going to go find Ted," said Andromeda, checking every compartment she and Narcissa passed. "You'll be okay on your own, won't you?" Narcissa raised an eyebrow. She was fifteen, not five.

"Of course I will be," she said stiffly. "It's you who won't be. Not if you keep hanging around with his type. Muggle-borns, Andromeda. You know what Father always says..." Her voice was hushed, little more than a whisper as her eyes darted around the compartment they passed. No matter how widespread the Black family's beliefs were amongst Slytherin house, it was not necessarily right to express their opinions concerning blood purity in public.

"I don't care," said Andromeda, pushing her sister into a free compartment, keen to get the conversation out of public. "And you wouldn't either if you knew what love-" The brunette paused, her face inches from her sister's as the compartment door slid open. "Hello Lucius." she said, tossing her dark hair over one shoulder. "Where's Nott and Mulciber?"

The blond boy who entered the compartment merely shrugged his shoulders. At well over six foot with his shoulder length white-blond hair tied back loosely, Lucius Malfoy commanded the attention of everyone he passed. Taking long strides, he crossed the spacious compartment in next to no time. "I'm not their keeper, Andromeda – you should know that by now," he spoke in a low drawl, causing Narcissa to stare. He had a nice voice, she concluded, albeit not one she would have imagined him to have. "Though, from what I hear, Theodore is looking for you. Now, if you don't mind, I'll be on my way; the Head Boy must be in the first carriage before the train can leave the station. Good day, Andromeda. Narcissa."

Narcissa's cheeks flushed a deep pink at the thought that the Head Boy had spoken to her. He was a seventh year Slytherin, just like Bellatrix, though they had never shown any inclination of being friends, and very well respected amongst his peers. And he knew her name. Lucius left the compartment without another word, leaving the sisters alone once more. "You make me sick," Andromeda said, hauling the strap of her bag higher onto her shoulder. "Getting all gooey eyed because the Head Boy spoke to you yet you condemn me for having a relationship with someone I love."

"Who happens to be a Mudblood." Enraged by the use of the swearword, Andromeda hissed through her teeth before fleeing the compartment, slamming the door shut behind her. For the rest of the journey, Narcissa remained mostly silent; even after her friends Louisa Marsh and Ruth Avery arrived and began telling stories of their summers. In fact, the only time her interest peaked was when the compartment door opened, the blonde's eyes widening each time in the hopes that Lucius was returning to see her. He never did, of course.


End file.
